Name: Savoury Hash of Cold Meat
Ingredients: 1 lb cold meat, cut into small pieces; 1 teaspoon dried herbs; 1 oz dripping (or cooking fat); 1 tablespoon flour; 4 pints water (or water in which bones have been stewed); 1 or 2 onions, peeled and sliced; 1 teaspoon pepper; Salt to taste

Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Savoury Hash of Cold Meat

Ingredients

1 lb cold meat, cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon dried herbs
1 oz dripping (or cooking fat)
1 tablespoon flour
4 pints water (or water in which bones have been stewed)
1 or 2 onions, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste

Directions

Prepare

Shake a little seasoning over the cold meat pieces.

Make the gravy

Heat the dripping in a saucepan until it smokes slightly.
Add the sliced onion and fry until brown.
Stir in the flour.
Stir in the herbs, blending them with the dripping.
Gradually stir in the water and bring to a boil.
Boil for two minutes to cook the gravy.

Warm and serve

Remove the saucepan from heat and add the meat.
Cover and warm slowly for ten minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Meat + oniontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,364 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour + oniontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together32,460 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,777 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cold meat: Forms the body of the hash and is warmed through in the gravy.
Flour: Thickens the dripping and water into a smooth gravy.
Onions: Soften and brown in the fat, adding sweetness and savory flavor.
Dripping: Carries the flavor and browns the onions in the saucepan.

The step that matters

Stirring in the flour before the water. Cooking the flour in hot fat for a moment removes its raw taste. Adding the water gradually while stirring prevents lumps and gives a smooth gravy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, flour, pepper):

Shallotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Okrafits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, flour, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Savoury Hash of Cold Meat